Online Anthropology 102                                                           Rio Hondo College

 

Syllabus and Schedule of Reading, Quizzes, Lessons

 

Instructor:  Jill Pfeiffer

Voicemail:  562 692-0921  ext. 3214

 

Email:  All assignments and questions go to riohondoanthro102@yahoo.com.  Please include your full name.

 

Office:  S 206M   (I am in the hallway of the Nursing Dept., 2nd floor of Science Building)

 

Office Hours: W 10:00-11:00AM; Monday 2:30-4:30PM

 

Required Text: 

 

Miller, Barbara    Cultural Anthropology  3/e

Allyn & Bacon Publishers ISBN:  ISBN  0-205-40139-2

 

Course Description:

 

An introduction to the study of patterns of culture in historic and contemporary cultures around the world.

 

Course Objectives:

 

Students will:

·        Gain knowledge of the discipline of anthropology and the many specialized areas of work in the four fields.

·         Comprehend and apply the guiding principles of cultural anthropology (ethnocentrism, cultural relativism, holism) and the methods anthropologists employ to study cultures.

·        Learn about patterns of culture and be introduced to small-scale cultures around the world.

·        Understand the concept of culture, the component parts, and the integration of culture.

·        Recognize and gain knowledge of the component parts of culture including:  economies and modes of subsistence, healing systems, kinship, marriage and domestic groups, social groups and stratification, political systems, language and communication, religion, art and expressive culture.

·        Discover how anthropologists use theories, methods, and skills from the field to solve problems around the world or design and evaluate development projects.

 

Student Learning Outcomes:

Throughout the semester, your performance on multiple student

Learning outcomes will be evaluated.  In particular the outcomes

Which will be assessed this semester include--but are not necessarily

limited to the following:

 

Given a cultural practice, students will be able to apply the principle of cultural relativism.  (This will be assessed in Lesson 2)

 

Strategies for Success

 

Please email me the first week of school to introduce your self  at  riohondoanthro102@yahoo.com.  If you do not email me within the first week of the course, I have the option to drop you.  Include your email address, full name, student Id, and any other information that I should know like a learning disability or limited English proficiency that might be a factor in your success in this course.   I may be able to provide information or refer you to campus based resources that can help.  Please email your questions and any other concerns to the yahoo address. This will be the address we use for all correspondence and your work will be sent there pasted into the body of the email. 

Please logon to WebCT during the first week and read through the syllabus and schedule. For those students who wish to drop the course after having participated for a time must do so on their own. Do not rely on me to drop you from this course.  Be aware of drop deadlines and make sure you take care of this otherwise it will result in an F grade on your report card.

Regular contact with me throughout the course is essential.  You should be logging on to WebCT at least twice per week.  I will send out periodic emails reminding the class of assignments that will be due or any changes to the schedule. Please be flexible with regard to our assignments, discussion forums, or other aspects of this course that might be updated.

Please feel free to email me with questions regarding the class material or help regarding quizzes, papers, or anything else!! If your question or concern is urgent please put something in the subject of your email like "911" or "emergency question" to alert me to your email. I will try to answer it as soon as I can. Otherwise please allow me between 48-72 hours to return your email and up to a week or more to get back to you with grades on exams and papers. I will have 100 emails or more to go through so please be patient.

The discussion forums will be one avenue for us to comment on topics in cultural anthropology. This is a time to bounce around ideas, make comments, bring up questions, answer questions etc. You will also receive credit for your participation that will help your grade!! Your comments must be appropriate meaning no foul language or judgments and must consist of solid responses, a personal story, or experience to tie into the topic. One line yes or no answers will not receive credit nor will responses written word for word from the book or other sources.  Students must read other students postings and comment to at least one other student for full credit.  There will be a total of 10 discussion forums posted, 10 points each.    (5 points to post a response to my topic and 5 points for responding to at least one other student)  I will be monitoring the discussions and if anyone posts and responds on the same day without reading other students postings, they will not receive credit.  All students should post a response by Wednesdays and complete responses by Sunday evening.  That means logging in at least twice per week to our site.   Please contact me if you have any specific areas of interest that you think might be interesting to start a discussion.  .

All assignments are posted on the website.  It is your responsibility to get to a computer to do your work regardless if your home computer fails.  Rio Hondo or your public library have computers with broadband service.

All correspondence between us should be saved in a separate folder on your computer.  This ensures that you have a copy of the mail that you sent with the date sent on it.  About 25% of emails do not go through and this is insurance that you will get credit for your work.  I will not accept late work, if your email does not get to me then forward your original email with the date sent.

 

Quizzes will be open for 7 days at a time.  Follow the weekly schedule!!  I will not reopen quizzes for student’s who are out of town or forget to take the quiz.  If there is a problem with the system students may retake a quiz once within the 7 day period.  The quiz will be timed (35 Min.).  I will have quizzes available until 9:00 PM Sunday evening California time or 12:00AM Eastern time.  Do not wait until the last minute to take the quiz.  I will not open them once they close.  Check your grade book directly after taking a quiz to make sure the grade posted automatically.  If you have dial up or AOL I would plan to take the exams at a school computer or other reliable source. 

 

 

 

 

Student Instructions: 

 

  • Each week students will have reading, discussion forums, lessons, and quizzes that must be completed.  Follow this weekly schedule and stay on top of your assignments.   It is best to wait for the due dates since the lessons should be completed after you read the corresponding chapter for the week.  This is a short-term, 8 week course so you can expect to cover two chapters per week along with other assignments to complete.  Online courses typically require more time than a traditional course on campus.  You will be expected to login at least 2 times per week and remain in regular contact with me throughout the semester. 

 

  • There are 4 lessons on topics in Cultural Anthropology.  I send you to websites and you answer the questions.  Each one is worth 25 points.  Please number your responses and send them in the body of an email to riohondoanthro102@yahoo.com.  Please include your full name.  Never send your work as an attachment, and always make sure you save your sent work with the original date sent in a folder.  If work does not get to me, simply forward your saved email to me showing the original sent date.

 

 

  • There are a total of 10 discussion boards that you must post and respond to other students for 10 points.  5 points for your posting and 5 points for responding to at least one other student.  Your first posting, the reply to the question or topic, must be posted early in the week.  Your reply to another student can come later in the week after you have read all other student’s postings. 

 

  • There are 8 quizzes on the chapters that are due at the end of each week on Sundays.  These are worth 40 points, 20 questions multiple choice or true/false.  You have 35 minutes to take the quiz and one chance for a retake should there be a problem.  Study before you take the quiz! 

 

  • Scale:  520-468=A    467-415=B    414-362=C    361-309=D    308-Below=F

 

  • EXTRA CREDIT:  Options for extra credit are available in the form of an ethnic market ethnography (30 points) or video reviews (10 points each).  Total available extra credit is 40 points.

 

·        Please be advised that this schedule may be altered at anytime so be sure and check the announcements on our website or your email frequently.

 

 

 

 

Weekly Schedule

 

Week 1:  March 17-23

 

To Do:  E-mail Jill Pfeiffer to announce presence and give e-mail address at  riohondoanthro102@yahoo.com; Read intros from other students and post your own introduction on our discussion board.  Post a Reply to at least one other student’s intro for full credit on the discussion boards.  Navigate our website and print out the syllabus and schedule.  Get your book!  Start reading chapter 1 and working on Lesson 1.  You may want to read ahead.

 

Spring Break March 24-30th!

 

Week 2:  March 31-April 6

 

Topic:  What is Anthropology and culture?

J

Reading:  Chapter 1

To Do:  Check Discussion board and post a reply to the new topic.  Lesson 1 due 4/ 6 in the body of an email to riohondoanthro102@yahoo.com. 

 

Week 3: April 7-13

Topic:  What is Anthropology and culture?

J

Reading:  Chapter 1-2

To Do:  Check Discussion board and post a reply to the new topic.  Quiz 1 on Chapter 1 due 4/13.

 

 

 

Week 4: April 14-20

 

Topic: Methods in Cultural Anthropology; Economies and Modes of Production

Reading:  Chapters 2-3

To Do: Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Quiz 2 on chapters 2-3 due 4/20.

 

 

Week 5: April 21-27

 

Topic:  Consumption and Exchange; Demographic Foundations: Birth and Death

Reading:  Chapters  4-5

To Do: Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Quiz 3 due 5/27.

 

 

Week 6:  April 28-May 4

 

Topic:  Personality and Human Development; Illness and Healing

Reading:  Chapters 6-7

To Do: Check discussion board and post for new topic.   Quiz 4 due 5/4.  Lesson 2 due 5/8.

 

 

Week 7:  May 5-11

 

Topic:  Kinship and Domestic Households; Social Groups and Social Stratification

Reading:  Chapter 8-9

To Do: Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Quiz 5 due 5/11.  Lesson 2 due May 8.   Lesson 3 due May 14.

 

 

Week 8:  May 12-18

 

Topic:  Politics and Leadership, Social Order and Conflict

Reading:  Chapter 10-11

To Do:  Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Quiz 6 due 5/18.  Lesson 3 due May 14.

 

 

 

Week 9: May 19-25

 

Topic:  Communication; Religion

Reading:  Chapter 12-13

To Do:  Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Quiz 7 due 5/25.  Lesson 4 due May 27.  All extra credit due May 29.

 

 
Week 10:  May 26-31

 

Topic:  Expressive Culture; Development Anthropology

Reading:  Chapters 14 and 16

To Do:  Check Discussion Board and post for new topic.  Lesson 4 due May 27.   All extra credit due May 29th.  Quiz 8 due 5/31.

 

 

 

Grades will be posted on WebCT site by June 6th.